Names
by Forsaken Angel BlackWing
Summary: When Roxas goes to pick up some things he forgot in his classroom one night, he doesn't expect to find a blonde-haired girl there as well. After a devastating breakup, Roxas had been trying to avoid love at all costs, but what will he do when this blonde starts to change that? One thing is for sure: his peaceful, loveless life is never coming back. AU, RokuNami, Sora/Kairi
1. My Name is

Names

Chapter One: My Name is…

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**A/N:**

**Well, this is my first time writing in the Kingdom Hearts archive, so please be gentle! Also, I apologize in advance for the lack of extra mark in the 'e' of Namine's name. it's just so hard to get that to work! If I can find a way to get it, then I'll fix it in later chapters.**

**This is an AU story, so if that's not your thing, then I apologize.**

**Well, I'll see you at the bottom!**

* * *

_CLACK! CLACK! CLACK!_

"Sora, why am I still here?"

_CLACK! CLACK! CLACK!_

"Because you're the star of the club. If you quit now, we won't make it to the tournaments."

_CLACK! CLACK! CLACK!_

"I know that, idiot. I don't have a problem with waiting until the new season to quit, but what I really meant is…"

_CLACK! CLACK! CLACK!_

"Why are we still practicing at nine at night? I could be eating sea salt ice cream with Axel and Demyx right now."

I could tell Sora was exhausted just by the increasingly sloppy swings of his Shinai. Not that his swings were that controlled in the first place, but that's beside the point.

"Because you're training me to fight against different styles of kendo."

_CLACK! CLACK! CLACK!_

"Yeah, but why are we still practicing at _school_?"

True to what I said, we were still in our school's gym, practicing alone. All the other club members went home hours ago, and all other clubs had already left as well.

"Heck if I know. We just never really stopped."

"I see," I said, giving myself a mental facepalm. Of course, with a Shinai in each hand, I couldn't actually do it. "Well, why don't we pack up shop and go home? You're exhausted, and I need to go buy some ice cream for Axel and Demyx. I promised them I would meet them tonight."

Sora sighed. "All right. I promised that I would meet up with Riku and Kairi later anyway."

After taking off our gear and packing it up, we began to walk through the school to the front door. Then, I remembered that I had left some things in our classroom, which was on the other side of the school.

"Hey, Sora? I think I forgot some things in our classroom. I'm going to go get it, so you can go without me!" I told him, turning around.

"Okay, don't take too long!"

"I won't!"

Walking through the hallway, I marveled at how dazzling the full moon looked through the hallway windows.

"You never get to see anything like this in the daytime," I whispered. "There's something about being here at night that feels… calming. I know it's a school, and I hate school, but still…"

When I arrived at my classroom, I tried to open the door with the key that the teacher, who I had a close friendship with, gave me.

_I wonder how Saix is doing… having a substitute just isn't the same. Wait a second… the door isn't locked!_

I walked in cautiously, then stopped when I heard the sound of pencil scratching on paper.

"Who's there?" I asked the darkness. Immediately, the scratching stopped.

"I'm not kidding, who's there?" I said a little louder.

"Eep!"

The sound came from the corner of the room by the window, alluding me to the source's location. I walked closer.

"P-please, don't come closer!" a feminine voice squeaked.

"Wha…?"

"Don't come closer! I have pepper spray!"

"W-wait, you have the wrong idea!" I said nervously, not liking the idea of being sprayed by the nauseating substance. "I'm a student here. I'm just coming by to pick up some stuff I left in the classroom."

"O-okay," the female said, stepping out of the shadows and into the moonlight that came through the windows.

When I saw her, I was taken aback by her… beauty.

She was a bit shorter than me, with platinum-blonde hair and blue eyes. She had pale white skin, most of which was covered by a long, white dress. She held a sketchbook in her right hand, and a pencil in her left.

_Why is such a beautiful girl here? She isn't wearing a school uniform, so she can't be from around here…_

"Jeez, if it were snowing outside, you'd be perfectly camouflaged!" I joked, trying to ease my own nervousness.

The girl gave me an indignant pout, to which I responded by laughing. Eventually, we both started to laugh, desperately struggling to keep our voices down.

Once our laughter died down, I said, "So, what're you doing here? You don't have our school uniform, so you can't be from around here…"

"Oh, that's right! You see, I'm from America, and I'm moving here to stay with my aunt, uncle, and cousin. I came to check this school out, since this is where I'll be attending. I'm supposed to go to this class. Wait, is this your classroom?"

"Well, yeah."

_I just told her that a few minutes ago…_

"Well, it'll be nice to know someone already. I'll have a familiar face to show me around!"

_Though unless you get real popular real fast, you probably won't see me very often… then again, she _is_ a foreign student, so she'll have some hype for a while._

"You're my first friend from another country," I said with a smile. "What's your name?"

"You're my first friend from japan, too! My name is Namine."

I outstretched my right hand. "Well, my name is Roxas."

She shook it, and then I looked at my watch. "Crap! I just remembered! I have to meet up with some friends!"

I got my stuff and turned to leave. "I'll introduce you some other time, okay? Well, I'll see ya!"

With that, I left, running out of the school.

Sitting on the couch at Axel's house while eating sea salt ice cream, I thought about the girl I met.

"Damn… I forgot her name."

"Who's name?" Axel, my redheaded best friend, asked with a smirk on his face. "Did you meet a cute girl?"

"Yeah, you could say that," I said. "She was in my classroom after school when I went to pick up some stuff I forgot. We got to talking, and that's why I was late getting here. Speaking of which, why didn't Demyx come?"

"He's out with his girlfriend, Larxene. They're supposedly on a date, but he said he'd be here after the date ended."

"Ah."

Just then, the front door opened, and a man with short blond hair ran in, carrying a guitar case on his back.

"Hey, Demyx!" I called. "How are you doing? How's Larxene?"

"We're doing fine," he replied.

A few minutes later, we were all sitting on the couch, eating sea salt ice cream while watching TV.

"So, any progress with Sora and Kairi's relationship?" Axel queried, looking at me briefly.

"Nah, not really. They're both still as dense as ever. By the way, stop asking. It's none of your business."

"Ah," Axel said quietly, ignoring my last statement.

"Hey guys, let's all have a sleepover tonight," Demyx suggested.

"Dude, seriously? Don't just invite yourself over like that!" I said.

Axel sighed, giving us a smile. "Don't worry about it! Besides, the only way you won't get in trouble for being lat home now is to call your mom and say you're having a sleepover at my place. Look at the time."

I looked at my watch.

_Eleven thirty?! How in the?!_

"You have a point…"

"Told ya!" Demyx exclaimed.

Later that night, after I had called my parents to tell them I was staying at Axel's for the night, I lay in Axel's spare futon in his cluttered room, thinking.

_Today has really been a weird day… but I guess that's a good thing. Uneventful days are a bore._

"Hey, why are you going to sleep already?" Demyx asked me.

"I don't know about you two college bums, but _I_ have school tomorrow."

"True enough," Axel said before adopting a devious smirk. "Wait a second… you just want to see that cute girl again, don't you?"

And like that, I found myself in a headlock.

"Wait, what's this about?" Demyx queried.

Axel released me from the headlock, saying, "Roxas here met a cute girl at school before he left."

"Please just let me sleep, guys!"

When I woke up the next morning to the sound of the alarm I set the night before, I immediately got up, careful not to wake Demyx.

_He's really grumpy in the morning…_

"Hey, Axel? I'm gonna use your shower, okay?"

"Kay!" Axel shouted from the kitchen, where he was presumably making breakfast for me and Demyx.

In the shower, I began to think yet again.

_I don't even remember falling asleep… I just remember being grilled for info all night by Axel and Demyx. Well, I guess it doesn't matter, as long as I fell asleep. Now I won't fall asleep at school. Wait a second… that's right! That blonde girl is starting school today!_

I quickly washed and got out, putting on spare clothes I always kept in my backpack in case of unforeseen sleepover invites.

I walked into the dining room, where pancakes resided at the dinner table. I began to eat, thinking about that girl all the while.

I heard yawning coming from the stairs, and I instantly knew that Demyx had woken up.

"Morning, Demyx," I said in between mouthfuls of pancakes.

"Where's Axel?" Demyx asked me, a yawn escaping him afterwards.

"Probably in the kitchen. He was the one who made these pancakes."

"Pancakes?!"

After eating and saying goodbye, I left Axel's house to meet up with Sora on the way to school.

_I wonder… why did he want to meet up with me so early? It's still about an hour before school, and both Axel and Sora live about fifteen minutes away from school…plus, the place we're going to meet at is even closer._

When I got to our usual meeting spot, I found Sora, Riku and Kairi sitting on a bench, waiting for me.

"Hey! How are you guys doing?" I said as I neared them.

When I got to them, Riku held out his fist. I met it with my own, and then I said, "So, the whole group is here? What's the occasion?"

"Kairi's cousin is coming from abroad, and Kairi wants to introduce us to her," Riku informed us.

"I see," Sora and I replied.

_Wait a second… does that mean…?_

"When are we going to meet her?" I asked casually, trying not to rouse suspicion.

"Oh… my… god… are you actually looking for someone now?!" Kairi practically screamed in my ear.

_I shouldn't have said anything… Kairi is crazy when it comes to matchmaking._

"No, I'm not. Seriously, does matchmaking ever get old to you?"

"You're no fun~! And to answer your question, no. It never gets old."

"Figures."

"So yeah, we were waiting for you so that Kairi could lead all of us to where she would introduce us," Riku elaborated.

"I see," I replied.

_Why do I have the feeling that it's going to be that girl from last night…? Still, I guess that wouldn't be _all_ bad…_

When we had almost reached the school, Kairi led us down a different path. We started walking to her house, which happened to be a few blocks from the school.

"Wait, why couldn't you have just told us to meet you at your house?" I asked Kairi, deciding to point out the obvious.

"I wanted to have some dramatic buildup for my cousin's appearance!"

I tried to resist the urge to facepalm, ultimately failing. "You seriously made us walk so far just for 'dramatic buildup'?"

"Get mad if you want, it won't change her spontaneous way of thinking," Riku said flatly.

"Hey!"

She gave us a pout, and soon we all found ourselves laughing; even Sora, who had stayed quiet for the entire walk.

When we reached Kairi's abnormally large house and she opened the door, I was greeted by the sight of art supplies all over the floor.

_What?! But Kairi's family is full of clean freaks! Why is it so cluttered?!_

"Uh, Kairi?" Sora spoke up for the first time. "Why is your house so cluttered?"

"Oh, that. My cousin is sort of a klutz, and she accidentally dropped all her art supplies on the floor in the front room. We decided not to pick them up yet, seeing as it was really late at the time."

"Okay then, where _is_ your cousin?" Riku asked her, clearly getting impatient.

"Hey, Kairi! Are those your friends I hear in the front room? I told you that you could introduce us _after_ school!"

Kairi laughed nervously, turning to us and whispering, "She's not very social…"

I heard footsteps walking towards us from the stairs that I knew where around the corner, and when Kairi's supposed cousin came into view…

"Y-you?!"

"Roxas?!"

* * *

**A/N:**

**So… how did you like it? A little short, I know, but hopefully you guys got at least a little enjoyment out of this.**

**This is more of a pilot than an actual chapter, so if you want more, then please leave a review or PM telling me to continue!**

**Well, that's about it! Here's a putrid line that nobody actually likes to read for you!**

**I don't own Kingdom Hearts or anything I use from it!**

**Until we meet again!**


	2. Setup

Names

Chapter Two: Setup

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**A/N:**

**Here we are with chapter two!**

**Don't really have much to say other than… thanks for all the positive reviews! So yeah… thanks! It really means a lot to have my first KH fanfic get praise.**

**See ya at the bottom!**

* * *

_"Hey, Kairi! Are those your friends I hear in the front room? I told you that you could introduce us after school!"_

_Kairi laughed nervously, turning to us and whispering, "She's not very social…"_

_I heard footsteps walking towards us from the stairs that I knew where around the corner, and when Kairi's supposed cousin came into view…_

_"Y-you?!"_

_"Roxas?!"_

* * *

"Wait, I'm confused…" Kairi said softly and slowly, before making a one eighty and screaming, "You two know each other?! Since when?!"

Seeming to be the only calm one in the room, Riku adopted a mischievous smile and said, "Yeah, _Roxas_. Care to explain?"

All eyes fell on me.

I took a second to regain my composure before saying, "Sora and I were practicing late last night at school, and after we packed up to go home, I realized I had forgot some things in the classroom. I went to the classroom, and I found her," I pointed to Kairi's cousin. "In the corner by the window. She kinda freaked out when she saw me, but then I told her why I was there, and we struck up a small conversation. Then I left for Axel's house, seeing as I was already late."

All was silent for a few seconds, and then Kairi said, "Well, that makes things simpler!"

_How, exactly? She still has to introduce her cousin to everyone else._

"So, this is Namine, my cousin. She moved here from America because of some… troublesome family situations… and she'll be attending our school! She's in the same class as you, Roxas, so could you please be a nice guy for once and show her around the school?"

"Hey, I'm not a bad guy!" I said defensively.

Everyone around me laughed, and I soon found myself joining in.

When it died down, Kairi asked me, "So, you _will_ show her around, won't you?"

"You realize that it depends on who my teacher chooses to show her around, right?" I asked her. "But I have a feeling that he'll choose me anyway. I pulled a prank on him last week with one of my classmates, and he'll probably think of it as a punishment. So yeah, I'll do it."

"I knew I could count on you~!"

* * *

The walk to school was filled with conversation, laughter, and all around fun… something that hadn't happened to me in years.

_I usually go to school by myself… it's kind of weird to be going to school with my friends._

"Hey, Roxas!" Sora said, waving his hand in front of my face.

I blinked. "Yeah?"

"We're here."

"Oh."

Namine giggled, prompting everyone else to start laughing at my expense. But I didn't care. I liked their atmosphere.

_Man, these guys are really easy laughs._

Just then, I heard the school's warning bell ring.

"C'mon, guys! Let's go!" Kairi said, running ahead.

Everyone started running save for me.

_Kairi is so much like _her_…_ I thought sadly, the memory of a girl with short, beautiful black hair returning to me.

"Why would it come back _now_?" I whispered sadly.

"Why would what come back now?" someone asked from beside me.

I quickly turned my head towards the voice, finding Namine looking at me inquisitively.

"I-it's nothing. Don't worry about it."

"Why would you tell me not to worry about nothing?" Namine asked with a sly smirk.

I sighed. "Look, it's not something you need to hear. Sorry."

I walked faster, but Namine followed me.

"If you want to talk about it sometime, I'll be happy to listen," Namine said, sounding so genuine that it scared me.

"Yeah… okay."

I looked at my watch. "Crap! The bell is about to ring! We've gotta go!"

I started to run, and Namine managed to keep up, despite my incredible athletic ability.

"I'll have to stop at the office before I go to class," Namine told me as we ran. "Since I'm a new student."

"All right, I'll see you later!" I said, turning around and running towards my classroom.

I ran into the classroom just seconds before the bell rang. "Sorry… I'm late…"

My teacher, who had arrived early, said, "Actually, you arrived on time with seconds to spare."

"Really?"

"Yes, now could you please sit _down_?" he asked me, though it sounded more like an order than a question.

"Yes, Saix-sensei!" I said, walking over and climbing into my seat.

_Wait a second… I just realized… there's only one empty seat in the classroom,_ I thought, looking at the empty seat to my right.

_So she'll be sitting next to me…_

For some reason, the thought filled me with happiness.

_What the heck is wrong with me? I can't fall in love again! It only leads to—_

"Roxas!" Saix shouted, snapping me out of my thoughts.

"Y-yes?" I shouted back, eliciting giggles from some of my classmates.

"Pay attention!"

"Sorry!"

"Now, as I was saying," Saix continued. "We have a new transfer student coming to our class today. She's from overseas, and she's coming here to stay with her relative."

I heard students around the room saying things like, "A transfer student at this time of year?" and, "I wonder what she's like."

"Namine, you may come in," Saix said, and the classroom quieted down.

The door slid open, and Namine walked in. She closed the door behind her, then walked up to the front of the classroom.

"Hello, my name is Namine Hikari. I come from America, and I'm going to be living here with my cousin from now on."

When she stopped talking, Saix continued with, "Namine, I'll have you sit next to Roxas."

She walked over to her new desk beside me, sitting down and getting out a very familiar notebook.

_Isn't that her sketchbook from last night?_

"And Roxas?" Saix said. "I think I'll have you show Namine around the school during lunch as punishment for your little stunt last week. Understood?"

_Saix… you may be an amazing teacher, but sometimes you're incredibly dense._

"Understood," I said with a neutral tone.

"Good. Now, back to the lesson."

* * *

The first half of the school day passed relatively quickly and without incident, and before I knew it, it was time for lunch break.

"Hey, Roxas!" a feminine voice said from my left, the source walking up to me.

Without turning around, I said, "Hey, Larxene."

"Sucks that he gave you the job of showing the new kid around before eating! Why don't you ditch her and come eat with us?" she asked, pointing to two of my other friends, Xexion and Marluxia, who were both waiting for me by the door.

"Sorry guys, but I have to do it or Saix will _destroy_ me with homework," I said apologetically.

"You have a point," Xexion said as he walked up to us, messing with a deck of playing cards absentmindedly. "Saix is still really pissed at you for that prank you pulled on him with Larxene. How she got out of punishment is anyone's guess."

"Not really," I said. "He just has it out for me."

At this, we shared a laugh.

I then remembered the silent Namine sitting beside me, so I grabbed her hand and said, "Well, I'm gonna show her around now, guys! Later!"

I got up, dragging her along until we were out of the classroom.

"Sorry about that," I said as we began to walk. "My friends, despite being popular, are pretty weird."

"It's all right," Namine replied.

It was then that I realized that we were still holding hands. I quickly let go, saying, "S-sorry!"

"It's all right," Namine replied once more.

Awkward silence reined the hallways.

"Well, what say we show you around?"

"Lead the way!" Namine said cheerily, giving me a wide smile.

_Too…! Innocent…! Must resist!_

* * *

Halfway through lunch period, I had successfully showed her the locations of all her classes.

"So, you thinking of joining any clubs in particular?" I asked her as we walked through the halls. "You draw, right? You'd probably be well-received in the Art Club."

"Yeah, I probably would be well-received in the Art Club, but it would be lonely," Namine told me. "Kairi said that everyone goes to the Kendo Club, even her."

"Is that so…?"

_Kairi doesn't go to the Kendo Club! She goes to the Calligraphy Club. What is she trying to pull?_

"She also said that you're the star of the club," she said, smiling. "Even better than Sora and Riku combined."

"I may be the star of the club, but I'm not that good…"

_What the hell has Kairi been telling her?! And still, who would believe that I'm that much better than a muscular guy like Riku?!_

"Well, Kairi has been known to tell tall tales," Namine mused. "I guess this was just another one."

_Still, the fact that she believed it for even a little while is crazy…_

"Still, I want to join the Kendo Club," Namine said softly, her face gaining a slight pink hue. "Because you'll be there."

My eyes widened, and I stared off into space, completely taken aback by her words. Then, I began to slowly piece together what was going on.

_Wait a second… Kairi's trying to set Namine up with me! I swear to god, if Kairi told Namine any weird lies about me, I will destroy all of her anime posters… with fire!_

"Hey, are you all right?" Namine asked me, waving her hand in front of my face. "You're spacing out."

"Y-yeah, I'm fine," I stuttered. "Just thinking."

"About what?"

I looked around nervously, thinking, _Man, I can't tell her!_

"It doesn't really make sense…" I trailed off before continuing with, "If I can ever figure it out, I'll tell you."

"Okay!"

* * *

The rest of the school day went smoothly, and soon, I was walking home together with Namine, Sora, Kairi, and Riku.

"So, Sora, Roxas, Riku," Kairi asked. "Don't you three have kendo practice?"

"Ah! I completely forgot!" Sora said frantically, grabbing his head.

"Nah, we got today off," Riku said nonchalantly, somehow ignoring my brother's outburst.

_Then again, Riku is spectacular at ignoring anything he wants._

"I know, I just wanted to see him freak out," Kairi said/laughed, pointing to Sora.

"Hey!" Sora shouted, clearly unamused by her joke.

"Come on, Sora," I spoke up. "We would've reminded you."

I looked around at Kairi, who was silently laughing, then at Riku, who was just giving me a smug look.

"Okay, scratch that," I corrected myself. "_I_ would remind you. These two 'friends' of yours would just watch you freak out."

We all busted out laughing, and even Namine, whose lips had been sealed the whole time, giggled lightly.

_Oh yeah, that reminds me! I need to talk to Kairi about her plan._

"Hey, Kairi?" I asked the redhead, walking to the side.

"What's up?"

"We need to talk about something."

"Okay!"

Once we were out of earshot, I turned to her and let loose. "What the hell, Kairi?"

"Huh?"

"You're trying to set me up with Namine! Look, I don't know everything you've been telling her about me, but it has to stop. I don't want _or_ deserve to be loved."

"…"

I saw tears building up in her eyes, and I immediately felt bad for being so harsh.

"How could you say that…? That you don't deserve to be loved?"

"I'm sorry. If you went through what I did, you would understand why I feel this way. Ask Sora about it if you want but I doubt he would tell you."

With that, I left for Axel's house, not even looking back.

_I can't fall in love… it never lasts, and only ends in pain._

* * *

**A/N:**

**There it is! The next chapter! To be clear, I'm not the type of person who can update his stories extremely quickly. Sorry for those of you expecting fast updates, but it just won't happen very often. If I'm really on a spurt of inspiration, then you might see weekly updates, but that's the best I can do.**

**Also, for those of you who like The World Ends with You, I'm glad to announce that I'm making a fanfic for the archive! It'll be Neku/Shiki, with hints of past Neku/Joshua. I don't like yaoi much, so it'll be strictly in the past, with only minor references.**

**Well, I guess that's about it! Time for the disclaimer!**

**I don't own the Kingdom Hearts franchise or anything I borrow from it!**

**Until we meet again!**


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